Gympie mum Jasmin Norris targeted by ‘inhuman’ rental scammers

A Gympie mum, targeted by fictitious landlords, is warning others to look out for the signs as scammers prey on the vulnerability of prospective tenants amid the current housing crisis.

A Gympie mum, caught up in the rental race, has been targeted by scammers while desperately looking for a home for her family.

In the increasingly common scams, which have also sparked a warning from police in nearby Hervey Bay, fraudsters either copy and paste existing legitimate rental advertisements or use random photos from the internet to create false private listings.

Wide Bay residents are particularly vulnerable to these illegal scams amid the rental crisis engulfing the region.

Jasmin Norris told the Gympie Times on Thursday she’d been targeted by a Facebook account claiming to be renting out a three bedroom Gympie home for $300 a week.

Jasmin Norris is a mother to a newborn baby and nearly fell into the trap of a rental scam that could of cost her thousands.

After posting about her family’s need for housing on various Facebook pages, Ms Norris received a message from an account with a profile picture of a middle-aged woman.

“They tried to advertise a house for rent that wasn’t there's, saying they had just moved to New Zealand (and the Gympie home they left behind was available),” Ms Norris said.

“Their plan was to try and trick me into sending them bond and rent money with the false promise of sending me the keys after receiving it.”

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Luckily, Ms Norris was able to pick up on the red flags and didn’t transfer any money to the account, however other victims have fallen for the lies and ended up out-of-pocket.

Ms Norris said the first sign she noticed was the scammer saying they were not living in Australia.

Jasmin Norris and her three-week old baby Willow.

“They say they’re somewhere else so it eliminates the possibility of them meeting in person and handing over the keys, that’s why they have to ‘send’ them by mail,” she said.

“The house was really nice for its price and he made up excuses as to why he’s not gone through a real estate – all things I’ve seen in other posts made on Facebook of people warning the community.”

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Ms Norris recently gave birth and has been “urgently” looking for a rental in the Gympie region but is yet to find anything suitable.

She hopes her story can warn others about the dangers of online scammers who are targeting the population’s most vulnerable.

Jasmin Norris has been applying for rentals with her friend (pictured left).

“It’s annoying to have to wade through false messages when looking for a place especially at this time and getting excited just to realise it’s a scam,” she said.

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“The behaviour is disgusting, it’s taking advantage of a desperate time in so many lives, it’s inhuman.

“It’s sad they could do this and I hope karma catches up to them.”